G&G has gotten a lot of heat recently because of their hike in prices across the board for RTW/MTO and because you now have to buy the trees...

but I still love them...

They are fantastic shoes...they fit great...the leather and the colors are fantastic and they take a shine so damn well!!

At the end of the day...I will still buy their shoes. I like them enough to justify it. I may not undertake all of the crazy MTO's that I dreamed up...but I will still gradually build my collection of G&G styles.

Ow, I love GG too, no need to sell me. Even with the new MTO prices, I was still planning on ordering a few pairs a year. They have a good fit that works for me, and that's something that I can't seem to find with other brands easily.

I just wish I wasn't having such a skewed experience with their quality recently, cause I would love to feel good about ordering another pair. Looking pretty hard to make that choice for me at the moment...

I have held this issue to myself long enough. I have had trouble with my last GG MTO, and as I received it back yesterday. One of the two issues was still unresolved. The grain leather shaft looks to be losing it's finish:

GG says it's not a leather issue, that these white marks have come from my clothing somehow

Quote:

Originally Posted by DWFII

My guess that it's an acrylic wax top coat.

When a finish of that sort is applied to heavily grained leather it tends to accumulate in the low areas of the texture ... as the leather flexes, it cracks and the cracked areas turn white.

not sure how you feel about it jubie but lame excuses like you received just really piss me off.

just tell me I'm an F'n idiot and be done with it . . . . it's quicker & wastes less of my time

When a finish of that sort is applied to heavily grained leather it tends to accumulate in the low areas of the texture. And it's not subject to being rubbed off by clothing. So as the leather flexes, it cracks and the cracked areas turn white.

Water will make it disappear for a while simply because acrylic is water soluble. The cracked finish re-hydrates and binds back together for a little while.

I've never seen top coat be this big of a problem. I suspect it is as a result of too heavy an application of the finish.

I suspect that if you brush hard when it is at its whitest it will slowly disappear. Brush, then apply a somewhat heavier than usual application of leather matching shoe cream and work it into the low areas. Don't glop it on, don't let it build up but do work it down thoroughly into the low places. Use a wax applicator brush to work it in.

Might help, might not. Can't hurt.

I had a similar issue on a pair of hatch grain shoes from another maker. The smallest possible neutral saphir polish and a brush completely fixed it.

I just wish I wasn't having such a skewed experience with their quality recently, cause I would love to feel good about ordering another pair. Looking pretty hard to make that choice for me at the moment...

Not to put too fine a point on it...this kind of problem is almost to be expected with any RTW or manufacturing operation. And as a company transitions from a bespoke or bespoke oriented operations, it is especially a problem.

Why? Simply because when there is no one maker to see the shoe through from beginning to end; when there is no one person who cares about the shoe at every stage, there is no one is answerable for quality.

And if the parties in question cannot give you a meaningful answer for the problems you're experiencing, maybe it's because they don't know the answer--maybe they don't know enough about leather or shoemaking or even the processes that they own, to have an answer.

Although to counter that, my shoe was made by one maker and developed something similar. Although his problem could potentially be permanent where as mine was only temporary.

I don't think JS's problem is permanent...if we are talking about the white residue on the tops, that is.

But the point wasn't so much about errors or quality issues as it was about why he's getting the run-around.

I make mistakes when I make shoes...errors of judgement. Every maker does. It's part of being human. But, ultimately, I am answerable...I have to be, no one else can be. There is no one else.

But if I don't even know what the problem was or what led me to believe my decisions were sound when they obviously weren't...I have no chance in hell of fixing them or even avoiding them in the future.

One concern though - there is a small blemish as received at the topline. The leather looks to be separated above the stitch line. I would appreciate thoughts on whether this will get worse with wear of putting on the shoe and taking it off?

I might overlook it on another shoe, but a black wholecut with almost no embellishing really brings out the flaw. I cannot find this shoe RTW anywhere else currently in my size, so should I live with it rather than return the shoe and take a price hit and suffer the lead time on MTO?

TBH this looks like what happens to my GGs when the shoe tree catches the edge of the opening when going in. With such narrow openings in some of these shoes, it's a tight fit getting the shoe tree in there so it can snag the shoe on it's way in (especially when they're not one-piece hinged trees). Not sure if that helps but something to look out for..

I think they look great and there is little reason to think twice about them. With wear they will get other nicks and blemishes, before too long it will just be part of what gives them character.